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Koby Parks
Koby Parks - February 22, 2016
It's been a few days since my last lesson but I'm now reaching into digital audio as this past chapter took a more in depth look on basic electronics. The chapter was relatively short compared to the last but I was still able to get something out of it nonetheless. The chapter mainly focused on the breakdown of how electronics and electronic circuits, and their components work in the ways that they do to produce the sounds we hear and they material with which we work.
I went into the studio this past Tuesday and Alex and I went over the chapter and had a breif discussion over Ohm's law and how it applies to speakers. After explanation he then sent me the following link that breaks down a few different ways you can route speakers into a 4 x 12 speaker cabinet (this can also apply to any other route of speakers so long as you have all of your specifications correct).
Check it out if you wish: http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/4x12wiring.html
He then went on to explain how his speakers are routed as well as their configuration with his tweeters. After that he sat me down and we started getting into the nitty gritty work that is soldering/sautering. I know this may sound ridiculous but until this day I'd never soldered anything on my own. Well we fixed that quick. It was definitely a bit easier than I thought it would be but it is very tidious work. He first had me look through a few wires with a circuit reader thing. Forgot the name of it. But I used it to find any bad cables. We found an XLR cable that needed fixing so I stripped the cables for enough sautering room, and sautered the wires to their respective places in order for the cable to work properly. After plugging it into the circuit reader each path was functional. He also then had me solder a few wires onto an older yamaha speaker. Just like that I had a new life skill under my belt.
When my work was finished he had me shadow a graduated student, Paola (local community college engineering associate) that had been working on the circuit boards for the SSL 4000 console. Overtime, the capacitors on all curcuit boards in the SSL wear down overtime, kind of like tires on a car or truck. When these wear down, the mix board will not fuction as intended. For instance, If one were working on the EQ of a track on bad capacitors, there may be little to no difference in the quality of sound being produced. Furthermore, if it was the low end capacitor, little or no low end would be produced. Replacing these will have the EQ and other parts of the board working at its top quality. Working on one board at a time, she explained how the capacitors are taken out carefully with a vacuum iron, and also how to solder new ones in after disposing of all of the older ones. In a few weeks Alex should have all of his circuit boards' capacitors replaced and the SSL will be working at it's highest quality once again. Just in time for me to start sitting in on recording sessions. I'm stoked for the upcoming week, where I'll be getting more time in the studio than the previous times. Stay tuned for more.
